Work holder fixture



J. WICKER WORK HOLDER FIXTURE May 3, 1949.

Filed Jan. 9, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lHllllHn "Wi d (72% F kfSqb/L [due/May 3, 1949. J. WICKER WORK HOLDER FIXTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.9, 1947 Patented May 3, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a work holder fixture for machine tools forholding a work piece in proper position with respect to the machine.More particularly the invention relates to a work holder for use inconnection with grinding machines so as to hold the work piece in properposition with respect to the grinding wheel of a grinding machine.

Conventional machines ordinarily are adapted to edge-grind a piece ofwork by securing the.

Work piece on the table below the lower edge of the grinding wheel of agrinding machine for edge-grinding the work piece, but these machinesare unable to accommodate relatively long pieces of work for the reasonthat it is impossible to insert a long piece of material between themovable table of a grinding machine and the lower edge of the grindingwheel. Long pieces of work may be edge-ground by securing the work pieceto the table top and letting the work piece extend in a horizontaldirection from the grinding wheel so that the material may beedge-ground from the side edge of the grinding wheel. This lattergrinding operation for long pieces is undesirable in that it willinterfere with adjacent machines. The present invention permitsrelatively long pieces of work to be edge-ground by the grinding wheeland still not interfere with adj acently positioned machines, andthereby overcomes the inherent objection to the securement of the workpiece horizontally with respect to the grinding wheel. Moreover, when awork piece is edgeground by positioning the work piece horizontally, adifferent sort of table action and grinding wheel feeding mechanism mustbe employed. The present invention utilizes the conventional grindingmachine, the conventional table top embodying the conventional movementof the table top as well as the conventional feed for the grindingmachine, but instead of the feed being from an upward positiondownwardly, the grinding wheel is fed from a lower position to an upperposition. This latter feeding arrangement, however, does not require anychange to the conventional method of feeding the grinding wheel to andfrom the work in that the upper edge of the grinding wheel is used forgrinding instead of the lower edge as now used for grinding smallerpieces.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a newand novel fixture for a machine tool, such as a grinding machine,

whereby the bottom edge of a relatively long work piece may beedge-ground by engaging the upper edge of the grinding wheel with thelower edge of the piece of work to be ground, whereby as the table moveslaterally in a rectilinear path and is fed inwardly, the bottom surfaceof the work piece may be ground.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a novelwork piece holder of simple construction, which is preferably castintegrally from metal, so that the base of the fixture may be mounted ontop of the movable table of a grinding machine and secured to the topwhen the top is magnetized, the fixture having a face plate againstwhich the work piece may be secured in vertical position, such as byclamping the work piece to the face plate.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout theprogress of the specification which follows.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a selected embodiment of theinvention, and the views therein are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a detail elevational view of a conventional type of grindingmachine, to which the work holder fixture embodying the invention isapplied, and shows the manner in which the relatively long work piecemay have its bottom edge edge-ground;

Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to Fig. 1 and shows the work piececlamped to the face plate of the fixture by means of a conventional C-clamp;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the improved work holder fixture;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of an edge gauge adapted to beremovably mounted to either edge of the face plate to position the workpiece to be ground; and

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing apiece of work clamped against the face plate of the work holder fixture.

The work holder fixture l is adapted to be mounted on the top surface 2of a magnetized plate mounted on the table 3 of a grinding machine d.The grinding machine 4 may be any conventional type of grinding machinewhich ordinarily embodies a table top 2 adapted to be moved laterally ina rectilinear path (to the left and right Fig. 1). The table 3 isadapted to be fed inwardly and outwardly toward and from the grindingwheel 5, Figs. 1 and 2. The plate 2 is preferably made of metal and isadapted to be magnetized by the energization of an electromagnet wherebya piece of work may be secured rigidly to the upper surface of themember 2. The conventional grinding machine, herein shown, is of thetype whereby the work piece may be secured to the top 2 when the top 2is magnetized so that the work piece is secured in position. The workpiece is then adapted to be edge-ground by the bottom of the wheelduring the movement of the table in a rectilinear path and by thefeeding movement of the table toward the grinding wheel. The spacebetween the lower edge of the grinding wheel and the top 2 of the tableis relatively small so that large pieces of material cannot beedge-ground. The grinding wheel 5 is mounted on a spindle 6 and isrotated by an electric motor (not shown),

- of the shiftable table 3.

The spindle 6 is mounted in a suitable bearing I which is adapted to bemoved vertically upon operation of the hand wheel 8 whereby the grindingwheel may be moved upwardly and downwardly within certain limits.

The fixture I of the present invention is adapted to be mounted on aconventional ma-, chine of the type just described, but is adapted tosupport a work piece 9 in vertical position and have its lower endedge-ground by the upper edge of the grinding wheel 5. The work hold erfixture I comprises a base I9 having its front edge II formed as astraight-edge so that it may be placed against the back gauge I2 whichis mounted on the upper surface of the work table so as to positionproperly the fixture i with respect'to the work table. The base It isrelatively square, and carries a vertically extending standard orsupport I3 which is preferably formed integral with the base. A faceplate I4 isarranged at the upper end of the standard- I3 .andtispreferabl formed integral with the standard. The front face of the faceplate I4 is offsetfrom the straight edge II of the .base, but is in avertical plane parallel to the Vertical plane of the straight edge I I.

An edge guide I5 is provided with a pair of spaced holes I6 which areadapted to align with complementary spaced holes I 1, I I formed in theopposite side edges of the face plate I4. The holes I1 on each edge ofthe face plate are adapted to be threaded and to receive fasteningmembers I8, I8 which pass through the holes I6 and threadedly engage theholes I1 in either side of the face plate. The edge gauge I5 isperpendicular to the front face of the face plate I4 so that when thework piece 9 is secured to the face plate it may be gauged by the gaugemember I5 to position properly the work with respect to the face plateand with respect to the grinding wheel. The work piece is adapted to besecured to the face plate I4 in any conventional manner such as byclamping the work piece to the fixture .by use of a conventional C-cl'amp I9.

The fixture I is adapted to have the bottom of the base It] mounted ontop of the plate 2 The top 2 is preferably of the type which may bemagnetized so that when the magnet is energized the work holder fixturewill be secured tightly to the top 2, the fixture of course beingcentered with respect to the grinding wheel, and the straight edge I Ibeing in contacting engagement with the machine back gauge I2. The workpiece is adapted to rest against the gauge I5 and to be clamped tightlyagainst the front face of the face plate I4, whereby the work piece mayextend upwardly so that the lower edge of the workpiece may beedge-ground by the grinding wheel 5/ The fixture I is of such a sizethat the space from the bottom of the base to the lower edge of the faceplate will be above the upper edge of the grinding wheel so that theupper edge of the grinding wheel may be used to edge-grind the lowermostsurface of the work piece 9 which extends upwardly and vertically fromthe faceplate. The rectilinear movement of the table, as well as thefeeding of the table, will there- :by cause the grinding'wheel to grindthe complete lower surface of the work piece 9.

The use of the fixture of the present invention thereby accommodatesconventional machines for edge-grinding relatively long pieces of workbecause the work is arranged in a vertical position, utilizing the upperedge of the wheel instead of the conventional practice of using thelower edge of the wheel. The lower edge of the wheel of course cannot beemployed for relatively long pieces of material because the verticalshiftable movement of the grinding wheel is limited so that in manyinstances the space between the bottom edge of the wheel and the topedge of the table is insufiicient. The use of the fixture, therefore,adapts conventional machines to edgegrinding long pieces of work byspacing the edge to be ground a sufficient distance from the table topso that the upper edge of the wheel may be used. The length of thematerial to be ground, therefore, is only determined by the ceilingheight and there is no interference with adjacent machines.

The device is rugged and durable in construction, is adapted-to beapplied to various types of grinding machines and may be readily andeconomically manufactured.

Changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of theparts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificingany'of its advantages, and the right is hereby reserved to make all suchchanges as fall fairly within the scope of the following claim.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

A work holder adapted for use with a machine tool having a bed plate, aworking element and a gauging shoulder, said holder comprising asubstantially rectangularly shaped base member forming a fiat downwardlyfacing support surrace, adapted to rest upon the bed plate of themachine tool with the forward edge of the base portion bearing againstthe gauging shoulder thereof, an upwardly extending relatively thinstandard portion disposed centrally between the ends of said base andextending parallel thereto, the bottom of the rear upwardly extendingedge of said standard lying in the same plane as the rear edge of thebase and sloping inwardly thereof, the front upwardly extending edge ofsaid standard being spaced rearwardly from the forward edge of saidbase, a face plate portion at the upper end of said standard spacedupwardly from the base and positioned at right angles thereto, said faceplate also being offset rearwardly of the forward edge of the baseengaging the gauging shoulder and an end gauge element removably mountedon an end of said .face plate, whereby the forward edge of the base mayabut against the gauging shoulder on the machine and the work may abutagainst said end gauge element on the face plate for positioningproperly with respect to the working element on said machine too.

JOSEPH WICKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 81,608 Curtiss Sept. '1, 18681,265,818 Schmidt May 14, 1918 1,515,039 Hanson Nov. 11, 1924 1,548,086Heald et a1. Aug. 4, 1925 1,600,144 Schmidt et a1 Sept. 14, 19261,663,320 Stoddard et al Mar. 20,1928 1,863,538 De Smet June M, 19322,390,978 Woodbury Dec. 11, 1945 2,418,059 Varcoe Mar. '25, 1947

